Passage

Genesis 21.9-21

Book: Genesis · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should give children suck? for I have borne him a son in his old age. 8. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned."

"9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. 10. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son: for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. 12. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13. And also of the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. 14. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15. And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. 17. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20. And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. 21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt."

"22. And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: 23. now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned." (Genesis 21:7-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” 8. The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned."

"9. Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 10. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.” 11. The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. 12. God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac. 13. I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.” 14. Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15. The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16. She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. 17. God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation.” 19. God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink. 20. God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. 21. He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt."

"22. At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 23. Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”" (Genesis 21:7-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"7. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. 8. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned."

"9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. 14. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt."

"22. And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: 23. Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. ^{that thou: Heb. if thou shalt lie unto me}" (Genesis 21:7-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. She saith also, 'Who hath said to Abraham, Sarah hath suckled sons, that I have born a son for his old age?' 8. And the lad groweth, and is weaned, and Abraham maketh a great banquet in the day of Isaac's being weaned;"

"9. and Sarah seeth the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she hath borne to Abraham, mocking, 10. and she saith to Abraham, 'Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid hath no possession with my son, with Isaac.' 11. And the thing is very wrong in the eyes of Abraham, for his son's sake; 12. and God saith unto Abraham, 'Let it not be wrong in thine eyes because of the youth, and because of thy handmaid: all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken to her voice, for in Isaac is a seed called to thee. 13. As to the son of the handmaid also, for a nation I set him, because he [is] thy seed.' 14. And Abraham riseth early in the morning, and taketh bread, and a bottle of water, and giveth unto Hagar (placing [it] on her shoulder), also the lad, and sendeth her out; and she goeth on, and goeth astray in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba; 15. and the water is consumed from the bottle, and she placeth the lad under one of the shrubs. 16. And she goeth and sitteth by herself over-against, afar off, about a bow-shot, for she said, 'Let me not look on the death of the lad;' and she sitteth over-against, and lifteth up her voice, and weepeth. 17. And God heareth the voice of the youth; and the messenger of God calleth unto Hagar from the heavens, and saith to her, 'What to thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath hearkened unto the voice of the youth where he [is]; 18. rise, lift up the youth, and lay hold on him with thy hand, for for a great nation I set him.' 19. And God openeth her eyes, and she seeth a well of water, and she goeth and filleth the bottle [with] water, and causeth the youth to drink; 20. and God is with the youth, and he groweth, and dwelleth in the wilderness, and is an archer; 21. and he dwelleth in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother taketh for him a wife from the land of Egypt."

"22. And it cometh to pass at that time that Abimelech speaketh, Phichol also, head of his host, unto Abraham, saying, 'God [is] with thee in all that thou art doing; 23. and now, swear to me by God here: thou dost not lie to me, or to my continuator, or to my successor; according to the kindness which I have done with thee thou dost with me, and with the land in which thou hast sojourned.'" (Genesis 21:7-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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TBD
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Quoted in

OT Polygamy Objection Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.